It was a game for the ages this past weekend as No. 1 Penn State Women’s Volleyball (29-1, 19-1) took down Wisconsin and Minnesota and to clinch the title of Big Ten Champions and the No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament.

In a game that went to four sets (18-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-20), Penn State held strong against fellow Big Ten opponent Wisconsin and ultimately claimed victory and the Big Ten Championship despite the challenges of playing this critical game in enemy territory.

Simone Lee (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) anchored the team with 14 kills and 14 digs for the evening. Fellow senior classmates Ali Frantti (Spring Grove, Ill.) and Haleigh Washington (Colorado Springs, Colo.) were next in line in statistics with 11 and 10 kills apiece. Frantti also added eight digs.

Heidi Thelen (Edgewood, Ky.) was also a key player in this victory as she propelled the team into the lead heading into the third set. Thelen overall added nine kills, two digs and six blocks against for the Blue and White.

Abby Detering (Mentor, Ohio) had one of her best games of the season, contributing 26 assists, nine digs and three kills. Teammate Bryanna Weiskircher (Rockford, Ill.) held strong with 24 assists and five digs.

The Lions and the Badgers were exceedingly well-matched, with all statistics neck-and-neck with each other. Penn State managed to come out on top with 53 kills to Wisco’s 50, 53 assists to the Badgers’ 49 and 12.5 blocks to 7.0

The ladies had to quickly adjust to yet another tough opponent as the team headed to Minnesota the next evening.

In yet another four-set game (29-27, 25-20, 24-26, 25-20), Penn State defeated Minnesota and claimed the Big Ten title.

Kristin is a member of the Class of 2017 at Penn State University. She is a Public Relations and Spanish double major who will be relocating to Denver post-grad. Kristin is passionate about writing stories that foster a sense of community through athletics. When she is not writing, Kristin is an avid triathlete who is always game for a run with friends.